News Headlines:

INLD chief, son get 10 yrs in jail, supporters turn violent

22 Jan 2013, 1042 hrs IST, AGENCIES

In
a verdict that can change electoral equations in Haryana, former Chief Minister
Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala were today awarded 10 years' jail
term for corruption in a teachers' recruitment scam
case.

Brushing aside the
violence outside the Rohini court complex by hundreds of supporters who threw
petrol bombs and stones, Special CBI Judge Vinod Kumar refused to show leniency
in the sentencing saying the "enormity" of the offences committed by the
convicts was "enhanced" by the "brazenness" with which constitutional rights
were violated.

The court
sentenced 78-year-old Chautala, his son 51-year-old Ajay Chautala and 53 others,
including two IAS officers, for various offences. The conviction came under
sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 418 (cheating), 467(forgery), 471 (using
forged documents as genuine) of the IPC and sections 13(1)(d) and 13(2) of the
Prevention of Corruption Act in the case relating to illegal recruitment of
3,206 junior basic trained (JBT)
teachers.

The senior Chautala
was not present in the court because of his hospitalisation after being taken
into custody last week, his son and all the other convicts were present in the
court. The five-time former Chief Minister and his son Ajay are both sitting
MLAs and could stand disqualified from contesting the assembly elections next
year if their conviction is not stayed by a higher
court.

Under the Representation
of the People Act, a person convicted of any offence and sentenced to more than
two years imprisonment shall be disqualified from the date of conviction and for
a further period of six years after his release.

Chautala's party Indian
National Lok Dal (INLD) is the largest opposition in the Haryana assembly with
30 MLAs in a House of 90 members. Today's sentencing of the Chautalas could come
as a serious setback in the 2014 elections if they are not able to contest in an
essentially three-way race among Congress, INLD and BJP-Haryana Janhit Congress
combination.